Otsego, Montmorency officials attending meeting rattled by

"I will definitely remember it for the rest of my life," commented Teresa Walker, Montmorency County's Register of Deeds. "It was a pretty grim sight."

The two women were attending a legislative task force meeting of the Michigan Association of Registers of Deeds along with about thirty others from across the state in a conference room on the third floor of the courthouse when the violence erupted. The victims and the gunman were to attend a probate court hearing on a personal protection order. The courthouse was immediately locked down, but the meeting attendees were kept apprised of circumstances by Isabella County officials, Seelinger said.

"There was a lot of tension in that room," Walker explained. "It was pretty nerve-racking. You could look out the window and see the body bags."

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Seelinger opted not to look around. "I'm not a seeker," she said. "They locked all the doors. I felt safer there (in the room)."

Walker added that "there was a lot of sympathy in that room for the people involved."

When the lockdown was lifted at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon, a deputy had to go to the parking lot to bring Seelinger's vehicle to her. "The parking lot was a crime scene. That guy [the gunman] could have been parked next to me; I didn't pay any attention."

She said she will pay more attention now. Both women came away from their proximity to an outbreak of mortal violence with a heightened sense of awareness about personal security as well as society's vulnerability to random acts of violence.

"You think you're up north and you're all safe and sound but you're never safe and sound no matter where you are," Seelinger observed.

Both officials also mentioned a possible need for enhanced security for people attending court on potentially violent domestic matters.

"It makes you think about personal protection (at probate hearings)," Walker noted. "Maybe this will bring some light on how these things are handled."

Seelinger agreed. "It kind of alerts you to what could happen up here too," she said. "It can happen anyplace. People do snap."